1974 Porsche 911 "RSR Tribute" Review - Are Air-Cooled 911s Overrated? 

Wow, what an epic car. You stated less than 300 hp but still a handful and super exciting. Your videos are very, very good in all aspects, well done.

One word to describe the Porsche from that era is the, "Analog" driving experience.

That's absolutely lovely. The interior is maybe even more gorgeous than the bodywork. The steering looks a little heavy for a 911, too much tyre on the front? Looks like it might need that last little bit of dynamic polish to be perfect, or maybe, it's just as the owner likes it as it is.

Shssss, that’s some kind of example air-cooled 911 you were able to test drive. Even that 912 is SUPER nice. Also, glad you were able to check out Luft 9, which is probably one of the BEST car shows, period. I attended Luft 5 that was in a lumber yard, and it was just magical.

Wow, that’s one stunning 911. The exterior is amazing and the interior is just amazing. Wow

This has to be a 150k plus build

You are very fortunate to have been able to drive so many awesome Porsches. I am a Porsche enthusiast to the core and I believe every generation offers an incredible driving experience in their own way. Also, every generation comes with it's own "purists/enthusiasts" claiming their generation is the best because of "x,y or z". If you can step out of that mind set and really just look at what each generation offers, then you can enjoy each one a bit more for it's unique characteristics. To say one generation is the absolute best is ridiculous. Different strokes for different folks. I tend to sway more towards the water-cooled Porsches, but I appreciate the air-cooled experience too. I actually got tired of the air-cooled hype on the Porsche forums, even though I love the cars, it was just a bit much, because it was just not my experience after driving them that I wanted to run out and purchase one. Maybe it was the rainy conditions, but after watching you drive this air-cooled, I noticed you never felt completely confident. You were definitely holding back, but I understand the conditions were not ideal. Beautiful car though, If I had one, this spec would be very close to what I would be after too.

always the honest review .. .. driven a 914 recently .. and yeah it's a special kinduv a drive

@Zygrene, one of the biggest things about Aircooled Porsches' is the people you meet. Ask YC to take you on a Sunday morning cruise through skyline to alice's. Watch how many people give you thumbs up on 280 or on the way up to Skyline. There's almost no other car that puts smiles on people's faces. They're not the fastest, loudest or most flashy of cars. But they sure make everyone feel good. My son and wife love the 993, i can't sell it because they'd be so sad.

I'm impressed you had the courage to drive an unassisted 300hp rear-engine car on a damp twisty road. Though, I'm surprised by how much movement and flex is in the seat when driving. I wonder if all vintage 911s have this "feature".

Those are not 997 seats. They are some kind of aftermarket folding bucket with inserts that copy those of the 997.1 fixed bucket. Which is probably why they flex so much.

Aircooled cars despite being really fab cars are not for everyone. Fact is some get it and on others it’s lost on them. Having experienced both water and aircooled extensively, I’d say the water cooled cars are easier more comfortable fast GT like cars(Touring). Big very comfortable, loads of electronic bits and most importantly good A/C and really fast but forgiving, the Aircooled on the other hand are light race oriented uncompromising sports cars, comfortability was never their reason d’etre, more for the hardcore driver. No bad one in either era, One just has to choose one’s poison

Great video as always 🔥

You should try this 911 build in a 914-6 chassis. The ride quality is so much smoother, the balance is like a modern Cayman, it's lighter than the 911, and makes all the same sounds and raw controls 😎

Beautiful car. As great as it is to have so much power in that chassis, there's something "right" about having the power plant and representative grip levels from the period as well. The late 70 911S and the 911 SC are two of my favorite cars to drive, very visceral and involving. But you don't have to spend all your time exercising self control like you do with a high powered car.

There something magical about air cooled Porsches.

I really enjoyed this video - the owner has a great sense of design. I'm curious if you know any details about the rear seat delete storage area (if not, maybe you could ask your friend YC?) I'm thinking about doing the same thing in my 912. Terrific car! Safe travels.

Great review!

I get the impression these old 911’s have more conditioned reverence than we realize. It’s quirks are more like cumbersome old technology. Not on purpose, but he review made it seem like nothing more than an old car.

A little detail about the 911 driving characteristics. I got a 996 C2 with 62% of weight on the rear axle. I drive also on selected nights in the winter on small forest roads, car raised a couple of turns, front AR-bar off, dampers on almost softest. I got studded winter tyres (Finland). So you trail a bit in, blip the rear off and once you feel in your backbone it is set you just give gradually throttle. You hardly need any counter steer as the weight shift takes care of bringing the front in line with rear. The traction is so good, not far from a 4WD because there is so much weight on the tractive tyres. You dont need a lot of training because the car is so logical. If you take the front AR-bar off it goes the same way every time, totally predictable and that gives you confidence. With the AR-bar on the car is just too warp stiff on slippery surface and jumps on three feet all the time and is not so predictable. Taking he AR-bar off on snow is almost opposite to what it would do on tarmac. On tarmac the grip is lost basically as a cohesion breakage in the rubber where as on snow the grip breaks in the snow (gravel is the same) - and that is why the snow wet up rules are bit different to tarmac. My point is that because the rear weight bias and weight transfer to back on accelerations really give the 911 characteristics - also on tarmac. You trail in and you quickly learn the point of traction return and it just flies out the corner. I really do not know any other car that gives quite the same level of joy - but Ive never driven the 60s Lotus Elan which is said to be the abs. benchmark of driving joy. Ive driven some mid-engined cars and they are probably faster but they leave very little margin and it is harded to find the confidence. But 911 really needs good tyres at back. summer tyres on ice and you will spin it in 50 meters. I know, in fornt of the garage :))))

I would have rescheduled if possible and done my review on a dry day . I can't believe tye owner let him take that beautifully restomod backdate Porsche out on a day like that.

very special car, has all the right details. It takes some experience to drive a 911 smoothly, remember you are working the clutch and throttles thru linkages, like a marionette with your feet. Who built this car please ?

"I can smell gas in the cabin" yea, that's not a charming quirk of an old air-cooled 911, that's something my '98 Mitsubishi Galant did and that car was never known to be charming or exquisite. These things have become so overrated and so far outside of reality that rust is now referred to as "patina" on a 911.

Your videos pretty cool but a couple of little secrets.. it takes a little bit of time to gel with a old-school Porsche 911 . When you go into a corner never lift off the gas maintain the same speed as you're coming out of the corner start accelerating .. the 911 is a beautiful car she practically drives herself you just give her a little guidance . I know driving that Porsche you will never ever forget about that drive .

why is the seat moving so much??

So is it really a great car to drive when you push it ? Or is it more about driving a 50 year old car with all its eccentricities ?

How are you able to have modified cars in california

Would you buy a supra over gr86

OMG ❤️ That 911!

👌🏾❤️👌🏾 nice